The Hill: Trump Holds 6-Point Lead Over Harris

Former President Donald Trump holds a 6-point lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in The Hill's latest average polling.

As of Sunday, The Hill's latest average of polls puts Harris at 36.9% and Trump at 42.6%. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was also named in the poll, currently sits at 5.8%.

Notably, Harris' favorability sits at 37.7% as of Sunday, with an unfavorability rating of 55.5%.

"Her favorability nationally mirrors Biden's — it's not great," Scott Tranter, director of data science at Decision Desk HQ, said last week. "Her upside, though, is she doesn't have all the baggage Biden has, and voters are going to take a fresh look at her."

"I don't expect the polling to show that she is outright beating Trump, but she's going to have a whole campaign and a fresh start, not going to have to answer questions about whether she's mentally there to serve," he added.

Following the news Sunday that President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race, Harris now faces an uphill battle to secure the nearly 3,800 delegates that pledged support to Biden in the primary. Biden's delegates are not bound to support Harris.

Moreover, it is unclear how the Democratic Party will go about its nomination process. Some, who bear a close association with the Democatic Party, such as Georgetown University law professor Rosa Brooks, have called for a "blitz primary," that ostensibly would be held at the exclusion of Democrat voters.

"Even if most of the other would-be hopefuls decide not to run, that doesn't mean the rest of the party will be unanimously behind [Harris]," Politico's Steven Shepard wrote Sunday. "Throughout the past few weeks, some Democrats — from elected officials to big donors — have fretted about Harris' low favorability ratings throughout her time as vice president, and there have been calls for a competitive convention instead of a fait accompli."

Those clamors for an "open convention" continued Sunday after Biden's announcement, including from some in the highest levels of the party," Shepard added. "Former President Barack Obama's statement congratulating Biden on his retirement did not include a Harris endorsement, but rather said he had 'extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.'

"Harris even nodded to the need to 'earn and win' the nomination in her statement — an acknowledgment that a competition, not a coronation, puts her in the best position going into the general election."

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